France international Benzema opened the scoring in the 13th minute when he received a clever backheel pass from Ronaldo, via a deflection, to finish efficiently past Schalke keeper Ralf Fahrmann.

Eight minutes later and Carlo Ancelotti's side were two to the good when Welsh wizard Bale controlled the ball from Benzema's dispossession of Felipe Santana before jigging around a couple of defenders and rifling home off the upright.

Thankfully for Schalke, that was all the scoring Madrid did in the opening 45 minutes before los Blancos turned it up a notch in the second term.

A third goal came in the 52nd minute when Ronaldo decided it was time to get in on the act and the Portugal superstar dazzled some would-be tacklers with some mischievous trickery before unleashing a fizzing left-footed effort past the out-strewn left hand of Fahrmann.

Soon enough and it was 4-0 when Benzema and Ronaldo combined for the former to slot home into the far corner from inside the box prior to Bale continuing the trend when he calmly placed the ball over Fahrmann after he was found by Sergio Ramos.

Ronaldo added a sixth in the final minute of regular time with a fundamental finish - for his standards - before Huntelaar grabbed a consolation for the Germans in superb style when he volleyed past Iker Casillas from the edge of the area.

However, that goal will do little for the hopes of Jens Keller's side as they get set to head to the Santiago Bernabeu on March 18 trailing by a whopping five goals.